Tenshoa
Active Member
First let me preface that I've been a reefer for quite some time and am fairly knowledgeable about water chemistry and the dos and don'ts of this hobby. I say that so that we can move beyond the typical tech support rigmarole "did you check to see if your power cable is plugged in" sort of responses.
I would also like to avoid the typical regurgitated anecdotal advice is possible.
What I am interested in is the relationship between water chemistry and hyper photo-sensitivity in corals, particularly sps.
I know that for instance, there is evidence that high phosphates OR (not sure which) the rapid reduction of high phosphates plays a part in hyper sensitivity. I have witnessed this with my own eyes in one of my tanks whereas sps began bleaching until introduced to low light for a moderate period of time, slowly ramping back up to normal levels. However, the bleaching did not appear to be the typical type of bleaching that you would witness under normal conditions containing too high of light intensity. It was more of a localized bleach, where the branches of certain acropora facing up and the surfaces of montipora most exposed to light would appear lighter as if "sunburnt". Difficult to explain.
What I would like to learn is whether or not there are other factors within the water chemistry that would result in the same sensitivity.
I am seeing signs of this on certain acropora colonies in my tank, where they are dark at the base and sides of branches, but extremely light on the surfaces. It is extremely similar to what I once experienced when high phosphates resulted in high sensitivity. The flesh is still good as I can look at it under a loupe.
My water parameters in this particular tank (I have 5) have been very stable and have not deviated in months. These parameters are also very intentional so I am not going to get into a debate about Low Nutrients vs High Nutrients since I have done this long enough to know what my corals look best with. These parameters are checked multiple times per week and NO3 and dKH are checked daily
Tests performed with Salifert unless otherwise specified and periodically checked against a different Salifert test kit for accuracy:
Alkalinity: 8.6 (no more than .4 variance over past 4 months and less than .2 variance in any given week)
Calcium: 490 (I am in the process of reducing this as we speak)
Magnesium: 1480-1500ppm
NO3: 7 (no more than variance of 4 over past 4 months and less than 2 in any given week)
PO4: 0.0 (Hannah checker and Salifert)
Temp: 77.6 - 79.1 daily (chiller and heater are hooked up)
PH: 8.11-8.31 from day to night (no kalk is currently being used or has been used for past 4 months)
Lights are ATI Sunpower 6 bulb (5 blue+ and 1 purple+) 12" off the surface of a 12" deep frag tank plus a blue Reefbrite XHO. Both fixtures 60". Two blue T5's on from 9:00 to 21:00, remaining bulbs from 10:00 to 16:00. Bulbs are 6 months old.
Salt is Red Sea blue bucket
Refugium has chaeto
Trace Elements are tested for and dosed with Red Sea kits
2 reactors, one with carbon, the other with Rowaphos. Each changed monthly.
Flow consists of one MP40, one Jebao PP15, two Jebao RW-8, and 2 Koralia in a 60 x 24 x 12 tank. Plus two returns run by a Deepwater Aquatic DC10 Return Pump. Skimmate via Reef Octopus is set to dry skim. 200 micron sock is utilized. Polyp extension is excellent.
Water changes weekly-ish
Fish fed once per day with PE Mysis and Rods Herbivore. Corals fed twice per week with mixture of ReefRoids, Phyto, Reef Chili, and Aquavitro Fuel is dosed twice per week per instructions.
This system is plumbed into a 40g breeder tank as well that utilizes an Aquaticlife 4 bulb t5 fixture that sits directly on the tank. I have only used 2 blue+ bulbs as of late and have placed troubled corals in this tank with good results. The interesting thing is that some of the acro colonies (in the large tank) are starving for more light and show no signs of bleaching. And some corals are coloring up beautifully. All corals have been inspected regularly under high magnification and no signs of pests are present. All have been thoroughly dipped and/or quarantined using Bayer.
I have exhausted all ideas on chemistry with the exception of one, which are aluminum levels. Possibly as a result of the Rowa. I do not have a test for this.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Pete
I would also like to avoid the typical regurgitated anecdotal advice is possible.
What I am interested in is the relationship between water chemistry and hyper photo-sensitivity in corals, particularly sps.
I know that for instance, there is evidence that high phosphates OR (not sure which) the rapid reduction of high phosphates plays a part in hyper sensitivity. I have witnessed this with my own eyes in one of my tanks whereas sps began bleaching until introduced to low light for a moderate period of time, slowly ramping back up to normal levels. However, the bleaching did not appear to be the typical type of bleaching that you would witness under normal conditions containing too high of light intensity. It was more of a localized bleach, where the branches of certain acropora facing up and the surfaces of montipora most exposed to light would appear lighter as if "sunburnt". Difficult to explain.
What I would like to learn is whether or not there are other factors within the water chemistry that would result in the same sensitivity.
I am seeing signs of this on certain acropora colonies in my tank, where they are dark at the base and sides of branches, but extremely light on the surfaces. It is extremely similar to what I once experienced when high phosphates resulted in high sensitivity. The flesh is still good as I can look at it under a loupe.
My water parameters in this particular tank (I have 5) have been very stable and have not deviated in months. These parameters are also very intentional so I am not going to get into a debate about Low Nutrients vs High Nutrients since I have done this long enough to know what my corals look best with. These parameters are checked multiple times per week and NO3 and dKH are checked daily
Tests performed with Salifert unless otherwise specified and periodically checked against a different Salifert test kit for accuracy:
Alkalinity: 8.6 (no more than .4 variance over past 4 months and less than .2 variance in any given week)
Calcium: 490 (I am in the process of reducing this as we speak)
Magnesium: 1480-1500ppm
NO3: 7 (no more than variance of 4 over past 4 months and less than 2 in any given week)
PO4: 0.0 (Hannah checker and Salifert)
Temp: 77.6 - 79.1 daily (chiller and heater are hooked up)
PH: 8.11-8.31 from day to night (no kalk is currently being used or has been used for past 4 months)
Lights are ATI Sunpower 6 bulb (5 blue+ and 1 purple+) 12" off the surface of a 12" deep frag tank plus a blue Reefbrite XHO. Both fixtures 60". Two blue T5's on from 9:00 to 21:00, remaining bulbs from 10:00 to 16:00. Bulbs are 6 months old.
Salt is Red Sea blue bucket
Refugium has chaeto
Trace Elements are tested for and dosed with Red Sea kits
2 reactors, one with carbon, the other with Rowaphos. Each changed monthly.
Flow consists of one MP40, one Jebao PP15, two Jebao RW-8, and 2 Koralia in a 60 x 24 x 12 tank. Plus two returns run by a Deepwater Aquatic DC10 Return Pump. Skimmate via Reef Octopus is set to dry skim. 200 micron sock is utilized. Polyp extension is excellent.
Water changes weekly-ish
Fish fed once per day with PE Mysis and Rods Herbivore. Corals fed twice per week with mixture of ReefRoids, Phyto, Reef Chili, and Aquavitro Fuel is dosed twice per week per instructions.
This system is plumbed into a 40g breeder tank as well that utilizes an Aquaticlife 4 bulb t5 fixture that sits directly on the tank. I have only used 2 blue+ bulbs as of late and have placed troubled corals in this tank with good results. The interesting thing is that some of the acro colonies (in the large tank) are starving for more light and show no signs of bleaching. And some corals are coloring up beautifully. All corals have been inspected regularly under high magnification and no signs of pests are present. All have been thoroughly dipped and/or quarantined using Bayer.
I have exhausted all ideas on chemistry with the exception of one, which are aluminum levels. Possibly as a result of the Rowa. I do not have a test for this.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Pete
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